Thursday, January 24, 2019

Last night I went to bed at 11pm, fell asleep quickly and didn’t wake up until 6:30am.  (Maybe I slept through the night because I read my book for 2 hours before bedtime?  I’ll have to keep trying that.)  I finally got up at 7:30.

I’ve been having a problem with my back first thing in the morning.  For the first 30 minutes or so after I get up, my back feels stiff/sore/weak.  I thought it was maybe my mattress is too hard or too soft.  But now I think maybe it’s the back exercises I’m doing at the gym.  Maybe I’m using too much weight or not setting the machine correctly or doing them wrong.  I’m going to stop using it for awhile and see if that helps.

I put 5 oatmeal cookies on a plastic plate, wrapped it in saran wrap and put it in a plastic bag.  I left the apt about 9:30 and walked down to the mall.  Teresa wanted me to look for sheet sets in Distrihogar but consulting the mall directory it appears that store isn’t in Viva Envigado.

I stopped at Habia Una Vez for a café con leche.  I removed one cookie from my plate and gave the chica (girl) working there the rest.  When I left 90 minutes later and paid for my coffee the girl said the cookies were “muy rico”.

I stopped in the copy center and printed out an au pair email for my files.

Back at Palo de Rosa I asked the portero if any other gringos live in our complex.  She said there’s one who lives in our building and another in another building.

I was back at the apt by 11am.

I left again at 11:45, and arrived a couple minutes late at Bartolos.  Doug and Barb arrrived at 12:20; Barb was getting a manicure and pedicure and 15,000 pesos ($5) is much less expensive than what she would pay in the States ($20-$25).

I gave them a small plate of oatmeal cookies.  They said they would have them later with coffee.  We talked for a little while then I recommended we have lunch at La Casita Parilla.  They liked the idea of a new place so I led them on the 3 block walk.  On the way we passed a small café that is new since we moved out of our old apt.  I had a burger, Barb had the chicken breast and Doug had the ribs.  We all enjoyed our food.  I learned that the owner’s (father’s) name is Diego.  The total came to 44,000 pesos ($15) and Doug picked up the check.

Laura sent me a short video of Julia, the 1 ½ year old playing in front of her.  Very cute little girl.

We went to the bakery by city hall and they had tintos and I had a café con leche.  The total came to a little more than $1.

We said goodbye outside Bartolos; they return to the States tomorrow.

I paid the utility bill at Cotrafa after about a 20-minute wait (only 1 cashier).

I walked across the street and found a small notebook for recording my gym exercises.  Not exactly what I had before but pretty close for only 6,800 pesos.

On the way back to the apt I observed a new restaurant under construction next door to Tepito the tex-mex place.

I was back at the apt by 4pm.

Teresa took MT to Santafe mall and returned at 7:30.

She has been invited to a friend’s apartment for lunch tomorrow.

I watched more episodes of The Walking Dead on Direct TV.

At 10pm Laura called Teresa and reported everything is fine.  She loves the little girl (calls her a doll) Julia that she took care of while the other was in school.  If I understood correctly last night she slept in her clothes under 3 blankets.  Next weekend I think she’s going to need another blanket.

Joke of the day

A little boy goes to his dad and asks, “What is politics?”

Dad says, “Well son, let me try to explain it this way: I’m the breadwinner of the family, so let’s call me Capitalism.  Your Mom, she’s the administrator of the money, so we’ll call her the Government.  We’re here to take care of your needs, so we’ll call you the People.  The nanny, let’s consider her the Working Class.  And your baby brother, we’ll call him the Future.  Now, think about that and see if that makes sense.

So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad had said.  Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets us to check on him.  He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper.  So the little boy goes to his parents’ room and finds his mother sound asleep.  Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny’s room.  Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny.  He gives up and goes back to bed.

The next morning, the little boy says to his father, “Dad, I think I understand the meaning of politics now.”

The father says, “Good son, tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about.”

The little boy replies, “Well, while Capitalism is screwing the Working Class, the Government is sound asleep, the People are being ignored and the Future is in deep shit.”